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Summer Visit - 2025 - IMPULS

The summer visit to Caltech is 4 days long and is the only time during the year of work when all the participants on the team come together in person to work intensively on the data. Generally, each educator may bring up to two students to the summer visit that are paid for by NITARP, and they may raise funds to bring two more. The teams work at Caltech; the summer visit typically includes a half-day tour of JPL, which is a favorite site for group photos. Reload to see a different set of quotes.

The IMPULS team came to visit in July 2025. The 4 core team educators attended, plus 6 students.

Quotes

  • [Advice to others:] Be ready to work! I have truly enjoyed being a part of the NITARP experience. I have such a better understanding of not only how to access data, but how to interpret it.
  • [The most surprising thing] was the diversity of kinds of work people did to make these missions a reality.
  • [Qualities needed for being an astronomer:] You have to be relentlessly inquisitive (“What happens if I tweak this parameter?”) and willing to chase down errors. A missing decimal, a mislabeled column, or a stray cosmic-ray spike can completely change your interpretation. Meticulousness is a useful quality.
  • [student:] I really enjoyed getting to know new people and exposing myself to things outside of my comfort zone.
  • I was impressed by how our team (teachers and students alike) were up for the challenge. They had some long days and were exhausted by the time they went home, but they really embraced the project and seem excited to see where it leads.

Related Teams

Summer Visit - 2025 - IMPULS